WASHINGTON - James Michael McHaney, 28, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today by the Honorable Judge Thomas F. Hogan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on one count of Possession of Child Pornography to 36 months in prison to be followed by ten years supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced. McHaney, who was employed by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell at the time of his arrest, pled guilty to the charge in February 2008.

According to the government’s evidence, on November 30, 2007, a cooperating witness (“CW”) working in an undercover capacity under the supervision of law enforcement agents, went on-line and observed that "Mike," previously identified as James “Michael” McHaney, was on-line with the screen name of “lilmikierocks.” The CW and “Mike” had previously met and had exchanged images of child pornography. At approximately 12:15 p.m., the CW initiated contact by saying "Hey, what's up?" The on-line conversation took place using AOL.

After approximately ten minutes, the CW asked "Mike" whether he was going to be at work all day, to which “Mike” responded that he could take a long lunch. CW asked whether "Mike" was interested in engaging in sex with a 13-year-old boy, and “Mike” replied, "I'll be there." "Mike" asked whether the child was at the CW's residence and agreed to meet the CW and the child there. "Mike" then asked whether the CW had a photograph of the child with whom he and the CW were going to have sex and whether the child had "pubes” (referring to pubic hair). When the CW answered “barely any pubes” and “none under his arms” to the latter question, "Mike" replied that was “hot.” “Mike” also agreed to bring “visual aids” on a flash drive that contained both videos and over 1000 images of child pornography. “Mike” said that his hard drive was at another individual’s house being loaded with more images of child pornography.

At approximately 1:15 p.m., law enforcement officers observed James Michael McHaney at the lobby of the CW's residence, located in Northwest Washington, D.C., and he was placed under arrest. A search incident to the arrest of the defendant revealed a flash drive which contained in excess of 600 images of child pornography. The majority of the pornographic images were of prepubescent males, which the defendant possessed for his personal use, and to distribute to others. The ages of the children appeared to range from approximately three to five years old to young teens. Among the images were movie files depicting prepubescent male children engaging in sexual acts.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood and the FBI/MPD Child Exploitation Task Force (formerly known as the Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force FBI/MPD Child Exploitation Task Force). In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor praised the quick action and investigative work of a joint task force consisting of Metropolitan Police Department Detectives Timothy Palchak, Jonathan Andrews, Morani Hines, Miguel Miranda, and Lieutenant Patricia Williams, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agents Scott Schelbe, Michael French, David Solis, Jill Blackman, Daniel Bradley, Chadwick Elegersma, and Chad Gallagher. Finally, Mr. Taylor commended Jeannette Fennell and Latoya Wade, who provided paralegal support; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jean Sexton, who prosecuted this case.